Guild Wars 2

What are some not overly complicated dungeon paths to run?

I tried using lfg but they all kick me when I tell them I’m not experienced.

I have no idea out of the 8 which ones to do.

TA is pretty easy, up path especially.

CoF Path 1 would be my recommendation. Really quick path which very straight forward objectives. The only two tricky parts would be the transporting of the rocks (which can be skipped with a mesportal), and everyone just needs to remember to get under a brazier. They’re optional mobs that are almost always skipped.

I’d suggest:

• COF 1
• AC 1+3
• TA (any)
• SE 1

I’d say later focus on getting to know eventually : (values difficulty out of 5 )

• COF 1+2 ( 1 , 2 ) ( lvl 75 )
• AC full ( 2 , 3 , 2 ) ( lvl 35 ) (good money)
• COE full ( 3 , 3 , 4 ) ( lvl 80 )
• SE 1,3 ( 2 , 3 ) ( lvl 65 )
• TA FW and UP ( 3 , 3 ) ( lvl 55 )
• Arah 1,3,4 ( 4 , 4 , 3 ) ( lvl 80 ) (nice armor)

I rarely if ever run HotW and CM and thus I cannot say which paths are easy
I used to run HotW p1 very often but it’s over 2 years ago almost.

Oh this game has no 5 star difficulty whatsoever. most difficult things you’ll face is the Spider and Kohler in AC, Lupi in Arah and Alpha in CoE, Kudu can be nice in SE and 1Laurent and his mob might scare you the first time in TA , but all are quite easily killable.

Last thing LEVEL and DIFFICULTY =/= the same. in most cases try to have a decent build and preferably lvl 80 (exotic or better) gear and an idea of a build. In most cases melee weapons are preffered, but if you feel uncomfortable make sure you carry a ranged option, some dungeons actually do make use of ranged options.

LFG guidelines:

• OPEN open for everybody as long as you have the required level for the dungeon
• story Story instance all other references are tro explorables
• p1,2,3 (path numbers goes for all dungeons except TA: paths are FW & Up in TA)
• FullRun = all paths for this dungeon

• EXP means EXPERIENCED , not explorable, make sure you ran the path a dozen times at least
• l80 means what it says , so no: NO lvl 79!….
• ZERK is a request for (max)DPS GEAR generally BERZERKER based
• Meta you should be running the most powerfull DPS build (at the moment meta seems to be changing due to the patch of a few weeks ago. Meta =/= most viable! It generally means most DPS oriented, ZERK is generally part of META!
• PING =you ping your armor/Weaps/Trinkets generally if they do not approve:kick

• XK AP is the most useless selection criterium, and is mostly used to keep away the >1(.5)k AP ppl. tresholds tend to be ~3000 AP (3K) and 5000AP (5K) people who just levelled their first character and are looking for their first dungeon experiences are mostly ~850-1250
• Quickrun a.k.a RUSH useing all known skips, No movies. (mostly a question to keep moving)
• 1st time generally for 1st timers who want to learn, also time to watch mmovies as well. (more ranged combat, some wipes are common, often 1 or 2 lvl 80’s with experience will join to assist) nobody will kick ppl from 1sttime parties unless they go AFK for more then a couple of minutes.
• Noskip the longhaul, kill everything you encounter, will be considerably slower then quick or speedruns. (generally ppl will run tankier builds)
• Speedrun you are expected to know each boss, each tactic and each movement if someone improvises you trust him expect above average DPS and intimate knowledge of the dungeon. Dungeon weapons and dungeon slaying potions are a must. No biobreaks, no movies (= kick), no fails, generally after 1st wipe 1 more try else the party desintegrates 1 wipe is VERY bad.. You are expected to know the meta for each boss, which is different then the meta for damage, so you can optimize your skillset (and/or traits) and weapons.
• Dungeon Tour most or all dungeons (generally COF,COE,TA,SE,AC and ARAH) takes ~5 hours.

From open to most closed groups:

• -Open-
• -l80-
• -l80 EXP
• -l80 ZERK
• -l80 META
• -Speedrun

General Tips

• Be HONEST! It will serve you more then trying to get into a party and failing badly..
• Get some dungeon weapons normally exotics (ascended will be downscaled >80)
  for night dungeons: (AC (l35), TA(l55), SE(l65), COF and COE exp)
  sigil of night and force OR
  sigil of night and appropriate slaying sigil
  for day dungeons: (CM(l45), HOTW, ARAH and COE story)
  sigil of force and appropriate slaying sigil.
  (force and undead slaying will serve you well in Arah and in the whole of Orr.(!))
• get slaying potions it will be the best solution for dungeons.get powerfull ones (except for AC -> use sharps)
• get food. (I prefer DPS food (plate of truffle steak ( +100 pwr, +70 prc)

There are a set of dungeons that can be done pretty quickly and are beginner-friendly:

• Ascalonian Catacombs – AC (Located in Pasmatis Corridor, Plains of Ashford): All the paths are easy, especially 3.

• Citadel of Flame – COF (Located in the Baelfire, Fireheart Rise): Path 1 is one of the shortest dungeons in all the game. Path 2 might take some work in a couple of parts but it’s also a fast run.

• Sorrow’s Embrace – SE (Located in Tribulation Rift, Dredgehaunt Cliffs): Path 1 is pretty easy and fast. You might have problems on the Golems if your party doesn’t bring reflects. Path 3 is not harder but it’s longer. Both paths require some skips so if you can’t go in with someone that already knows them, try watching some youtube videos.

• Honor of the Waves – HotW (Located in Watchful Fjord at Frostgorge Sound): Path 1 is pretty easy and fast but it’s not a very popular dungeon. Might have problems with some traps that are located in a hallway before the 2 final fights. Bring DPS, bosses have a huge healthpool.

Some people might say Twilight Arbor but I don’t like that place. Give it a try (Up path).

Final advice: Start dungeons once you are level 80 unless you are going with some friends or guildmates (or you are really close to hit 80). If you are using the looking for group tool (LFG) that open with the “Y” key avoid joining parties that state “full zerker” “speed run” “only exp” and try joining parties that say “All welcome” or “frist timers”.

Start with cof p1 and SE p1. Those are both really linear dungeons and shouldn’t be too much trouble for you to learn.

When I polled pug groups on what they expected from a “speedrun”, about a year ago now, it was: skipping all cutscenes and generally trying to maximize damage for what ever the kitten build you were running. I’d have to ask around again and see how this has changed with people flipping kitten about the meta builds these days.

If you don’t want more than one weapon set, I think the best option was recommended as force + accuracy as a general pug set. Though force + night affects more of the dungeon paths.

As a note on potions, you get ~69 tokens per path completed, and you can buy a 1hr 10% potion for 1 token which gets you through basically all the paths for a dungeon, either ask someone for a potion if you forgot(and send them some later), or pick up a couple ahead of time from the dungeon armour section at the LA merchant.

I consider citadel of flame path 1 to be the easiest. Before you run a path, you can try reading the guides here:
http://gw2dungeons.net/
This site is very useful. It also tells you how long most runs are, and rates their difficulties.

AC1/3 is easy with ele in party
TA up, the other path “forward” can be really tricky if you are not used to skipping, having a thief in party helps
SE 1/3 guard is awesome here
HoTW 1 is fairly straightforward

Didn’t mention CoF1 cos from my own experience with that path, just 1 braindead player can make the four under bubble part real pain and frustrating. The stone running just before that, gl if you are the only one who can run them. In ok party, the path is easy, if you get very inexperienced party, people will rage quit at some point.

Don’t know if I agree with ac p1 being easy or any of the low level dungeons for that matter, if you want to learn those are actually alot harder than the higher level ones now because of the power and crit changes for downscaling. I’d recommend HotW or arah p2 those have alot more mechanics and in learning them you will become a better player.

Whichever difficulty you are attributing AC with, you can at least double that if you don’t bring a staff/frostbow ele.

IIRC my first dungeon run was one the the AC pathes on my condi necro. I literally didn’t join another dungeon for a full year, because of how miserable an experience it was. It didn’t help that GW2 dungeons are the opposite of intuitive, but most of all necro toolkit is painfully bad for dungeons and super unforgiving for newcomers. Try to run through the caves towards the last boss without knowing what you’re up to… the graveling mobs will make you their kitten. The ghostly graveling boss is another pug breaker if you can’t just zerker-explode it.

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

• Arah 1,3,4 ( 4 , 4 , 3 ) ( lvl 80 ) (nice armor)

I recommend doing Arah 1,2,3 if you’re confident in your abilities, otherwise just do 3. I wouldn’t ever recommend 4.

Arah p1 is pretty much the most newbie-unfriendly path in the game.
I’d rather do p4 with first timers than p1

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

I’d say later focus on getting to know eventually : (values difficulty out of 5 )

• COF 1+2 ( 1 , 2 ) ( lvl 75 )
• AC full ( 2 , 3 , 2 ) ( lvl 35 ) (good money)
• COE full ( 3 , 3 , 4 ) ( lvl 80 )
• SE 1,3 ( 2 , 3 ) ( lvl 65 )
• TA FW and UP ( 3 , 3 ) ( lvl 55 )
• Arah 1,3,4 ( 4 , 4 , 3 ) ( lvl 80 ) (nice armor)

Wait, what? CoE P3 is harder than Arah 4? What? WHAT?
From a perspective of a new player, especially when running with pugs, Arah would be an order of magnitude more difficult than most of the paths you named. Also, P2 is much more worthwhile learning than P4.

Tarasicodissa.7084:

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

I’d say later focus on getting to know eventually : (values difficulty out of 5 )

• COF 1+2 ( 1 , 2 ) ( lvl 75 )
• AC full ( 2 , 3 , 2 ) ( lvl 35 ) (good money)
• COE full ( 3 , 3 , 4 ) ( lvl 80 )
• SE 1,3 ( 2 , 3 ) ( lvl 65 )
• TA FW and UP ( 3 , 3 ) ( lvl 55 )
• Arah 1,3,4 ( 4 , 4 , 3 ) ( lvl 80 ) (nice armor)

Wait, what? CoE P3 is harder than Arah 4? What? WHAT?
From a perspective of a new player, especially when running with pugs, Arah would be an order of magnitude more difficult than most of the paths you named. Also, P2 is much more worthwhile learning than P4.

I don’t really get why Arah p3 is considered easier than p2. The mechanics of the end boss, the orbs and the first two bosses can be difficult for pugs, especially if you have no reliable reflects/ the guardian or mesmer in you group sucks. Whereas P2 is much more straightforward in terms of bosses it’s just the skips that are hard for pugs which can easily be alleviated with a thief, or a mesmer. OFC arah isn’t a good place to start running dungeons, but it’s the best place to learn your class and practice to get better.

Agreed, P2 would be one of the better paths to start with IMO. The skips still need getting used to, but they are definitely easier than most other Arah skips.

bladex.9502:

Arah p1 is pretty much the most newbie-unfriendly path in the game.
I’d rather do p4 with first timers than p1

Seriously? I can braindead run P1 with PUGs just because they’re live bodies that can help rally or add slight dps (notably on locusts). I don’t do P4 because I’m lazy and it takes so long.

Esplen.3940:

bladex.9502:

Arah p1 is pretty much the most newbie-unfriendly path in the game.
I’d rather do p4 with first timers than p1

Seriously? I can braindead run P1 with PUGs just because they’re live bodies that can help rally or add slight dps (notably on locusts). I don’t do P4 because I’m lazy and it takes so long.

P1 sucks for pugs because of the lack of wp at the crystaline entities. I remember the first time i did that path with pugs -_- it was like waiting for 5 old people to cross a road one at a time.

champ.7021:

Esplen.3940:

bladex.9502:

Arah p1 is pretty much the most newbie-unfriendly path in the game.
I’d rather do p4 with first timers than p1

Seriously? I can braindead run P1 with PUGs just because they’re live bodies that can help rally or add slight dps (notably on locusts). I don’t do P4 because I’m lazy and it takes so long.

P1 sucks for pugs because of the lack of wp at the crystaline entities. I remember the first time i did that path with pugs -_- it was like waiting for 5 old people to cross a road one at a time.

Ah, I just solo run it and then if people die, I drop a portal since I play Mesmer. If they fail to take that portal, however… (most players don’t know how to use portals).

Every profession can solo run it, but most people don’t know how. That’s why I drop a portal if they take a while and/or can’t do it themselves yet.